


Fallen Down

by the_fox333



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Suicidal Alphys, no actual suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 05:31:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9533849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_fox333/pseuds/the_fox333
Summary: NOTE: Oh my GOSH I'm really just awful at this whole "actually finish writing stuff" thing. Yeah, this is more or less abandoned too. I'm just as upset about that as you, if not more.The reboot ofFallen Down, now with a plot that's actually going somewhere!After a formerly pacifistic Frisk kills Mettaton, Alphys attempts suicide via waterfall and winds up in an even deeper part of the Underground, where she meets friends both old and new. But when a mysterious event means she may never see the Underground again- screw it, I don't get paid to write blurbs. I don't get paid for any of this, actually. Haha, get cliffhanger'd.Rated T because of the whole attempted suicide thing. When the Alphyne gets serious, I'll tag it.





	1. The Fall

Alphys dashed through the Core, frantically trying to remember the sequence of rooms she had set up. She internally screamed at herself for being so naïve. She had trusted the human, even started to consider them a friend, and because of that, Mettaton was... She couldn't bring herself to even think it.

Reaching the elevator, Alphys punched in her 27-digit key sequence, claws flying. As the car lurched and started downwards, she collapsed against the railing, the full weight of the events of the last few minutes hitting her like a freight train. Mettaton was dead. He was never coming back. He had died, and it was all her fault.

The elevator dinged, and Alphys stumbled out onto the wet stone. The low roar of the waterfall nearly masked the secret panel sliding shut behind her. All around her, garbage was piled almost to the ceiling. Approaching the ledge, she gazed down at the mesmerizing stream of water, falling for what seemed forever before disappearing into the blackness. The flow carried endless trash from the surface into the unknown depths. Alphys would come here often, staring sometimes for hours into the abyss. Now, at least, she would finally figure out what was down there. "For science," she muttered cynically, edging closer to the endless drop.

Footsteps echoed in the distance. Most likely the others, looking for her. Well, she wouldn't be swayed. She was a failure. Worse, she was a murderer, and nothing anyone said could change that. With a deep breath, she shifted her weight forward and leapt.

In the fraction of a second before her foot left the platform, Alphys's entire life flashed before her eyes. Barely remembered images of a small warm house. Her first report card, adorned with gold stars and a teacher's note saying she should talk more. The two young girls, looking nervous and in need of a friend. The short skeleton, his cheerful disposition masking something else. The garbage dump. An endless parade of doctors and diagnoses and prescriptions, and one doctor who was different. Her last report card, a solemn march of red A's and a single teacher's note- "Drop by the Royal Science Academy anytime." The tall skeleton in black, welcoming her, teaching her. The accident. The human's arrival. Guiding them through Hotland. Throwing open the door to find- no, don't think. All of it appeared and vanished within the time it took to blink. And then she was falling, falling, falling.

Suddenly, she saw Undyne's face over the edge. She was throwing out her hand in despair, a terrified look on her face. Alphys could barely make out her words.

"Alphys!" she was shouting. "Alphys, no! Don't do this to me! Alphys!"

Like a slap to the face, Alphys realized what she had done. Even if she didn't think she was worth anything, she had friends who did. Bratty and Catty. Asgore. Sans. Undyne. And she had just removed herself not only from her own life, but theirs, as well. "Undyne!" she called desperately, but she was too far to hear. As the light from above dimmed, she glimpsed a telltale flash of blue. Somehow snatching the spear rocketing past her, she grabbed it and hung on as if her life- as if her friends' lives depended on it.

And then there was only black.


	2. A Whole New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Man, I wrote this pretty poorly last time by my current standards. Well, that is why I'm rewriting it.

Falling is actually rather boring.

Once Alphys became acclimated to the constant rush of air and secured her lab coat so it wouldn't keep billowing open, she plunged through the darkness in silence. Her head was a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions. Clinging to Undyne's spear, she tumbled ever downwards, directions losing their meaning. Even the fall into the Underground couldn't take this long, she thought. Silently, she mourned Mettaton, mourned her old life- mourned her life. Surely she couldn't survive this fall; it wasn't possible. Hitting even a lake at this velocity would be instantly lethal- she quickly abandoned that avenue of thought.

After several minutes of endless darkness, Alphys was getting tired of silence. "Hello?" she called into the black. Her voice echoed back and was quickly whipped away, the only response. "Well," she announced, "if I'm here, I may as well do something with my time." Frowning, she tried to think of anything she could ask forgiveness for. Obviously the Determination experiments- she winced at the thought. Lying to Undyne, lying to Asgore, lying to everyone. Failing to protect Mettaton. Helping the human. Tallying the deaths and ruined lives on her fingers, she shuddered inwardly. Maybe she really did deserve this.

Abruptly, Alphys was falling through empty air, the relatively close tunnel walls expanding instantly into a massive cavern that looked big enough to fit the entire Underground. Below her sprawled a landscape to rival the diversity of the surface: mountains, rivers, forests, and countless other landforms. Several areas contained collections of buildings, and one mountain was carved with what seemed to be a massive gate. If she hadn't been plummeting towards it at terminal velocity, she would have been breathtaken. But she was, in fact, plummeting towards it at terminal velocity.

Alphys was suddenly aware once more of the wind tearing at her clothes and the fact that she was somehow now upside down. She screamed as loudly as she could, forgetting her thoughts from the moment before and hoping only that somehow, someone would save her. Something seemed to tug at her, and then she realized the spear was slowing down. Wrapping her legs and tail around it, she hung on for dear life as its descent halted just above the snowbank. Alphys stared wide-eyed at the spear, which was glowing even bluer than usual. With a ping, the glow disappeared, and her yelp was interrupted with a mouthful of snow.

Knees trembling, Alphys climbed to her feet, propping herself up with the spear. Looking around, she saw no signs of habitation anywhere; not even so much as a path. She picked a random direction and was about the start walking when she heard a sharp crack behind her. She froze, her pulse racing. Who knew what was in these woods? There could be bears, or giant carnivorous frogs, or-

"Hey!" called the human.

Alphys shrieked and jumped back. "Wh-who are you?" she stuttered, trying to regain her composure.

"My name is Neil," the human said. He briefly clenched his hand into a fist, extinguishing the blue aura that had been surrounding it. "Who are you?"

"I'm Alphys," she replied, eyeing the human nervously. Had he been using magic? "I'm- was- the Royal Scientist. N-nice to meet you, Neil."

"Nice to meet you, too, Alphys," Neil nodded. "Come with me, if you would. I'll take you to the Hall of the Fallen." He strode off confidently down a path she somehow hadn't noticed before but which seemed glaringly obvious now, Alphys jogging to catch up.

After a short hike, they arrived at a large building made of what looked like spruce wood. The supporting pillars had been carved into ornate faces, both human and monster. On the door was a large seal that reminded Alphys of the Delta Rune: a winged shield with a triforce painted in blue, red, green, and white. Pushing open the doors, Neil beckoned her into a sparsely decorated hall that resembled the Last Hallway in New Home. Large abstract stained glass windows let in plenty of light, and a mesmerizing tile pattern of interlocking human and monster souls covered the floor. Neil strode to the other end of the room and picked up a large mallet. Winding up, he slammed it into a brass gong, the sound rolling through the Hall and out the door. Not a minute later, humans and monsters began to trickle into the Hall, filling in the space between the columns. When the last few stragglers took their places, the doors were shut, and a silence fell over the crowd.

Realizing everyone was staring at her, Alphys shifted nervously, instinctively curling up a little. After a moment, an older monster, like Aaron but less muscular, walked up to her. He reached out a hand to her, which she accepted. His handshake was crisp and formal. "Above-lander, what is your name?" he asked her.

"I-I'm Alphys," she stammered, unsure of where this was going.

"Alphys, who were you before you fell?" the monster continued, tilting his head.

"I was R-royal Scientist for King Asgore Dreemur," Alphys replied.

"And who are you now?"

This question caught Alphys off-guard. Who was she now? How was she supposed to know that? What did he even mean by that? She glanced around the crowd, hoping to get a hint. Everyone was watching her intently, showing no signs of impatience. "I'm- I'm-" Who did she want to be seen as here? This was her chance to start anew, to atone for her sins. "I am a-" She had been a scientist before, but not here, at least not yet. She was at a complete loss for words. "I don't know who I am now," she confessed shamefacedly.

"Good," smiled the old monster. "It is easiest for those with no preconceptions to find their calling. Alphys, welcome to the Underdepths."


End file.
